H.E. Yongdzin Lopön Rinpoche has decided to bestow on us, in addition to the teaching, the Initiation of the Medicine Buddha / Sangye Menla.

Yongdzin Lopön Rinpoche decided to confer this initiation for the purpose of peace, prosperity and well being of all the beings and particularly of this earth.

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Initiations are imperative way of introduction to the practice conferred by the Masters as well as great means of inducing blessing. This one will be a unique opportunity for us all. It will be the occasion to receive blessings, heal ones physical or emotional imbalances, learn the link between the elements and the formation of our body, to learn the short practice used to purify external, internal and secrete diseases of mind and body, which are consequences of an imbalance of these elements. This practice is very powerful and brings many benefits.

The very source of these four medicine tantras known as the gSo rig bdud rtsi sman rgyud ‘bum bzhi is our Lord, the Perfect Buddha Shenrab Miwo Kunle Nampar Gyelwa (gShen rab mi bo kun las rnam par rgyal ba) who taught them by means of the five perfections.

Thus the place where he taught was the core in the Southern Continent of Jambudvipa, of our universe of endurance, in the center of the supreme and noble place of Olmo Lungring, close to the Mount Yungdrung Gutsek.

His retinue was that of the eight great Sages (drang srong chen po brgyad) such as Chebu Trishe (dPyad bu khri shes), the Son of the Victorious One and holder of the Medicine Science, together with the 360 Yungdrung Sempas (g.yung drung sems dpa’) such as Mucho Demdrug (Mu cho ldem drug), the successor to Tonpa Shenrab.

Then, 1800 years after the nirvana of Tonpa Shenrab, the master who took care of the Speech teaching of the Buddha came and distinguished the Words (bka’) [of Tonpa Shenrab] from the Teachings relying on the Words (bka’ rten) before transmitting them to the Six Ornaments of Erudition (mkhas pa rgyan drug) and the four Scholars translators.

According to the Sûtra of Entrustment contained in the large biographical sûtra of Tonpa Shenrab’s deeds, the Buddha said :

“ — Mucho demdrug will be my successor. For the time being, he resides in the place of semi-gods but after my own nirvâna, in the wood-dragon year coming in 1891 years, he will come in the sanctuary of Olmo in Jambudvipa, with his retinue of divine beings from the sky. In the Palace of Karnak Trasel (dKar nag bkra gsal), he will divide the teachings according to my Words and the commentaries relying on my Words. He will teach them according to the intellectual capacities of sentient beings and spread them in all the ten directions of Jambuvidpa. ”

The Six Ornaments and the Four Scholars translated them in the language of each country of Jambudvipa such as Tazig (sTag gzigs), Zhangzhung (Zhang zhung), Gilgit (Bru sha), Kashmir (Kha che), Trom (Phrom), Oddiyana, Thogar (Tho gar), India, China, Tibet, etc. Thus, the sufferings and illnesses of the infinite beings living in this enduring universe were dispelled beyond the limits of existence and the precious teaching of the Buddha greatly diffused and increased.

In particular, in Tibet, our country, at first, when Shenrab Miwo was still alive, because of the demon Khyabpa Lakring, the Teacher himself had to come to the snowy valleys of Tibet, in the special place of Kongpo Bonri.

After this, during the reign of the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo (gNya’ khri btsan po), Namkha Nangwai Dokchen (Nam mkha’ snang ba’i mdog can) and the Four Scholars, etc.,

translated numerous cycles of Sûtras, Tantra and Dzogchen from the Mar (sMar) language of Zhangzhung into Tibetan.

The fact that these teachings existed then is clearly given in details in the Royal Genealogies of Bon and the Histories of the Doctrine.

In the meantime, Buddhsim and Bön spread (in the eight century) and when the abolition of Bön took place, this Blue Sky of Myriad Mind (Thugs ‘bum mkha’ sngon) was hidden as a treasure by seven Bönpos in the Secret Svastika Cave (g.Yung drung gsang phug) of Jema (Bye ma) in Upper Tsang province. Later on (in the eleventh century), the yogi (gShen po) of Tsang, Butso Sipai Gyelpo (Bu ‘tsho srid pa’i rgyal po) opened the treasure and transmitted it to Me’u Khepa Pelchen (rMe’u mkhas pa dpal chen), thus diffusing it.

The three other texts such as the White Myriad of Medicine (sMan ‘bum dkar po), etc., were revealed in the main temple of Samye (bSam yas dbu rtse) in the tenth century by the three buddhist of U (dBus). The physician Yuthokpa (Lha rje g.Yu thog pa) requested the texts from them and up to now they have been intensely diffused, not withstanding the fact that we can affirm that historically, the glorious Four Tantras (rgyud bzhi) of the buddhist tradition are later developpements of them based on these root-texts.

Now this text known as the Blue Sky of Myriad Mind (Thugs ‘bum mkha’ sngon) and its branches known as the White Myriad of Curing Medicine (gSo byed sman ‘bum dkar po), the Multicolor Myriad of Diagnosis and methods of Healing (‘Tsho thabs dpyad ‘bum khra bo) and the Black Myriad of Illnesses to be Cured (gSo bya nad ‘bum nag po) are an incomparable scriptural tradition to be studied by the fortunates interested in the science of Medicine.

Moreover, in our society, the special culture of Zhangzhung and Tibet which has appeared thousand years ago and their numerous histories with wide specificities are esteemed by young people ; in particular, the elders consider each of these ancient traditions as models for the future generations. Its shows the path of education they have to assimilate in their mind and will be at the same time of medical service to all the people of the world.

In addition to that, since this text is the basic treatise of medical studies, Ragshi Menge Tsultrim Sangye (Rag shi sman dge Tshul khrims sangs rgyas) of the School of the Four Myriads of Medical Science following the ancient traditions, is reprinting them here ; the variant spellings included in this medical collection are included as in the original old books and left without corrections. We have preserved the ancient style of composition and utterance of ancient words as a subject of investigation so that this tradition shall be the object of future researches.

Written by Tsultrim Tenzin, the 304th day of 1998, on the 3135th Tibetan year, being the fourteenth day of the first month of the Earth-Tiger year.

Tibetan Medicine originated many thousands of years before Tibet was an autonomous kingdom. In order to alleviate the suffering of sentient beings, the founder of Yungdrung Bön, the Enlightened Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwoche, taught medical science directly to his disciples over 18,000 years ago. In his emanation as master of this knowledge, Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwoche is called Sangye Menlha, the Medicine Buddha.

This knowledge is considered part of the First Way of Bön. Responsibility for holding this medical lineage was given directly to the Buddha’s own son, Chebu Trishe. This vast medical knowledge was written into a group of texts known as the Bum Zhi, The 4 Volumes.

These 4 volumes are:

1) The Root which is the Mind, the Blue Sky Volume
2) Completely Victorious Medicine, the White Volume
3) Methods of Diagnosis and Healing, the Mixed Color Volume
4) Remedies for Curing Disease, the Black Volume.

These texts were translated into the Tibetan language in the 4th century but had to be hidden during the 7th century due to religious persecution of Yungdrung Bön.

One method of concealment involved changing the language so as to reflect Buddhist themes. This modified text was renamed the Gyu Zhi. The original Yundrung Bön Bum Zhi was thought to be lost until modern times when the eminent scholar Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche found the text within the Bön Kangyur. Now, it is being widely distributed once again.

The studies involved in becoming an Amchi, or Tibetan doctor, are quite difficult and take many years. In addition to knowing the causes and treatments for balance and imbalance within the human body, the Amchi must also devote themselves to spiritual practice and the cultivation of compassion and generosity, understand the intricate relationship between the conditions of the external environment and the internal environment of the patient, and be a master herbalist and pharmacist who gathers produces and dispenses medicine.

The Bönpo have a different account of the origin of the Gyushi. For them it is based on the Bönpo medical text the Bumshi, which was first taught by Tönpa Shenrab to his son Tribu Trishi. Amchi Gege explained to me that from Tribu Trishi the text was passed on through the medical lineage in Tazig and Zhang Zhung, eventually to be translated into Tibetan by Tongyung Thuchen, Gyimtsha Machung,
Chetsha Khorwa, and Shari-chen, at the time of the 2nd king of Tibet Mutri Tsenpo.

Later, when the Bön religion was persecuted, the Bumshi, along with many other Bönpo texts was hidden. There are 3 different accounts of the way the text was discovered.

One account states that the text was found by the Bönpo Terton,
Khutsa da-a in Bhutan.

A second account holds that it was one of the texts that were rediscovered at Samye monastery in 913 AD by 3 Nepalese monks; the Terton is named as A-tsa-ra.

The third account is given in Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen's history of the Bön religion (Karmay 1972: 170). He writes that in 1037 AD, Butsho Sipai Gyalpo, found several medical texts in western Tibet, amongst which was the Bumshi.

In Nyima Tenzin's catalogue (karchag) of Bönpo texts, 9 medical texts are listed in the Bönpo Kanjur (Kvaerne 1974:101); these he states were all discovered by Butsho Sipai Gyalpo.

The first of these texts is the Bumshi.

Nyima Tenzin adds to his entry that the 4 parts of the Bumshi were 'transformed' (gyurpa) by Vairocana into the 4 parts of the Gyushi.

He gives as evidence of this that the mantras in the text have been left in the language of Zhang Zhung, and the Bönpo word for a fully ordained monk, drangsong has also been left unchanged.

Other Bönpo accounts claim that it was Yuthog Yöntan Gonpo the younger who transformed the Bumshi into the Gyushi.

Though the kadrub thesis that the Gyushi is a canonical text was generally accepted, because it is a terma, it was not included in the Chapa Kanjur or Tanjur collections.

The Bönpo on the other hand, as nearly all of their Kanjur consists of termas, had no qualms about including the Bumshi. With the dominance of the Buddhist kadrub tradition, and particularly with the ascendancy of the Gelugpa administration from the 17th century, we hear very little about the Bönpo medical tradition until relatively recently.

Amchi Gege told me that when he was studying medicine in Tibet, he knew about the Bumshi, but he had never seen a copy of it; he carried out his training using the Gyushi.

Lopon Tenzin Namdak informed me that while he was the head teacher in Menri monastery in Tibet, before the Chinese invasion in 1959, there was a copy of the Bumshi in the monastery library

A.P.:
Of course, my teacher that is a Ngakmo in the lineage of Rebkong, she is from Italy which studied TTM with Dr Nida and she teaches us this historical fact, that In the first year when we study history of Tibetan medicine, Bön is said to be the womb of Sowa Rigpa.

KY:
So if i understood it well then the Gyud Zhi is based on the Bön Bum Gzhi

A.P.:
Yes exactly.

1) I am not studying Bönpo medicine it doesn’t exist. Sowa Rigpa is one.
2) The only historical text after millennia of oral transmission is Bum Zhi from Chebu Trishe as written alike the oral instruction from the father Buddha Tönpa Shenrab
3) Gyu Shi is a text written by Yuthok Yonten Gonpa the older a menpa and ngakpa which has only revised the original bum-zhi. As said in Tibetan academic studies, the 98% of Gyud shi is the original Bum shi.
4) Then exist also the Buddhist medicine that is a match between Ayurveda, Buddhist practices from Mahayana and philosophical beliefs, where sometimes Mantra is considered more important then medicine in itself.

Forgot to say that. What is studied according to Bönpo lineage, is not much different from Gyu Zhi and what is studied in Dharamsala in the institute founded by Dalai Lama: Mentsee Khang

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Chebu Trishe is one of the 8 sons of Buddha Tönpa Shenrab Miwoche and he is the one who got the whole transmission of the Bön Medical Text called the Bhum Zhi from his Father.

Some interesting news about the Bön Bumshi Medicinal systems, which has its own sources and traditions in comparison to
the later developed Gyuzhi.
Its logic that Bön Bumshi forms the very foundation of the TTM.

KY

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Medical School for Traditional Tibetan Medicine in the Bönpo's Bumshi Medicinal systems.

The construction of a medical teaching institute outside Kathmandu, also a training project for jobless youth is being co-sponsored by the German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), by BILD Hilft e.V. and Ein Herz für Kinder e.V. (both charities from Germany). The construction of the institute building was completed in summertime 2009.

Facilities of the laboratory, office and kitchen are co-sponsored by the Deutschen Umwelthilfe e.V. and Rapunzel Naturkost AG from resources of the HAND IN HAND-Fonds.

Since 2009, the school trains young women and men to work as qualified health professionals and doctors of Tibetan medicine. The training as qualified health professionals takes 5 years, the training as a doctor of Tibetan medicine takes 9 years.

Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche inaugurated the foundation of the Kathmandu medical school. He is one of the most senior and respected living teachers of the Tibetan Yungdrung Bön. The construction and furnishing of the school is a joint project between Bönpo Foundation/Kathmandu und der Yungdrung Bön Stiftung. In order to finance the running costs and further investments, we need your contributions.

The Tibetan medical system is based on the Medicine Tantra System (consisting of 4 Medicine Tantras).The Bön Bumshi Medicine system is recognized by the Tibetan Minister of Health in Dharamsala to be one of the 2 Tibetan medical systems.

Many early and contemporary specialists of Tibetan medicine consider the Bön Bumshi medical system to be the original source of the whole Tibetan medical system.

Team Kathmandu medical school is the first medical school outside Tibet to teach the complete Bön Bumshi medical system and in this way will maintain and preserve this unique medical tradition.

The curriculum is initially addressing young people from remote alpine regions of Nepal where supply is totally lacking, where the population has a Tibetan background and the cultural and spiritual tradition of Yungdrung Bön is still alive. These are mainly Dhorpatan, Dolpo and Mustang. After completing the training, part of the graduates should return there.

In addition the training program is open to all interested in the medical school, especially young exile Tibetans and young Nepalese sharing an interest in Tibetan culture and healing arts. The school is meant to offer these young people a vocational perspective. In the medium-term the school will assist in improving the health services for the population in the remote mountain regions of Nepal.

The school wishes to be an institution which preserves the effective, traditional Bön health care methods and to contribute in maintaining a crucially important aspect of Tibetan culture in its oldest and most original form, namely Bön Bumshi medicine.

In future the intent is to have an exchange with medical doctors and specialists of western cultures and to find a way for the 2 medical traditions to enrich each other. Such a dialogue between Tibetan and western Medicines will contribute to the research of the effectiveness of Traditional Tibetan Medicine.